


Poisonous

by somerandomperson



Series: Words for Inktober [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-25 06:46:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16192253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somerandomperson/pseuds/somerandomperson
Summary: October 1 - prompt PoisonousHe can feel it working through his veins, from his arm out into his whole body. Pain and echoes of pain merging into one another.





	Poisonous

**Author's Note:**

> I can't draw but I saw the one word prompt list for Inktober and thought that I hadn't written anything that wasn't for work in such a long time, here was a chance to practice and flex those creative writing skills. 
> 
> I've never done anything like this before and i have no beta (all mistakes are my own) but why the hell not? First time for everything.

He can feel it working through his veins. A sharp cold pain spreading down his back. 

The fingers of his right hand loosely curled around a bent plate on the shoulder if his left. Blood dripping slowly onto the metal. 

He knows the only thing he can hear is his ragged short breaths and the rumble of traffic just out of focus but its as if he can hear a voice. A new voice, and old voice calling out. He knows that it's not there with him but it sounds so near. He wishes it were clearer but nothing in his head is clear. It's just snatches of sounds. Echoes that overlap and clash so nothing is distinct.

He's not sure where he is. Or how long it's been since he fished Captain America, Steve, from the Potomac. He knows its Steve, he saw a sign. A large colour drawing of the man on the bridge. Standing tall and staring off into the distance with a steady gaze. 

It's a disconnect in his mind. He know the face, not just from their clash on the helicarrier. His face echoes and flickers throughout his mind, never settling. The expression on the sign is new though. the echoes bring up the twitch of a jaw. thee twitch of the corner of the mouth, crinkles round the eyes. The wide eyed begging expression from the helicarrier. This steady gaze, reaching blankly into the distance sits oddly. He comes back to the sign many times and yet all he can think of is the flaring of nostrils and the clenching of a more fragile jaw line. 

His mind must be jumbled. He can't focus on what in front of him for more than a few minutes before it all becomes white noise. He just can't grasp onto thoughts. Information comes in and out of his mind like a sieve. 

It mustn't have been too long, as he doesn't remember more than a couple of nights. Well he thinks it's a couple. Waking up is disorienting and there is no one to direct his attention or provide information. He had asked once but the man he asked backed off slowly while his eyes moved about wildly. 

The aches started early, at first just at the joint between his metal arm and shoulder. 

He had found some clothes in a bag outside a store. He knew he had to change his clothes so he had grabbed them. Hidden behind a dumpster and changed. pulling on a shirt had caused a jolt of pain. It felt normal, like something he was used to. He couldn't actually remember feeling pain but it was like it was a muscle memory. Like how he remembered how to drink or read. The ache was familiar a part of him. 

It reverberated in various points of his body. As if he had felt them there at some point before the memory faded. 

Those he didn't really try to focus on. Even the ones that came with long boney fingers gently pressing against his knuckles. 

Then came the sharp stabs down his sides. Sudden cramps that left him gasping for air. Soon they were coming thick and fast. Wave after wave forcing him to his knees bringing up what little he had eaten. 

Had he eaten recently? He had no idea. The remains on the floor said yes but all his brain could supply him with was a furrowed brow glaring, arm coming up to push blond hair back. 

He had stumbled into a public bathroom at some point and there he saw it. Poking out of his collar. Thin red marks weaving their way across this skin. It had been dark he thinks so he had taken off his jacket and shirt and found his whole shoulder red and hot to the touch. The little red lines expanding down his chest and back out from his shoulder. Looking over his shoulder down his back sent a feeling like a warm hand moving down his back. He closed his eyes and wished it was more than a fleeting sensation. His couldn't help but hope that the feeling of a soft press of lips against his shoulder was a real memory. 

Had someone cared for this battered body? A tear rolled down his face. It was so clear in that moment. The soft touch of rough hands on his skin and he let himself feel it; pretend that it was certain. 

A load bang from outside had him scrambling for his clothes and stumbling away. He felt his shoulder throb with the effort. Sounds and images kept coming and his mind couldn't process. Cramps were beginning to rack his body so he ran for the dark. 

Feeling brick scrap his skin he slid to the floor hurriedly pulling off his jacket. The fingers on his metal arm spasms, plates shifting. He stares at the movement, both now and in the echoes. Horror, wonder, indifference he feels them all and not at all. 

Brick crumbles under the metal palm. Flashed of blood seep through. Time after time. 

His throat closes up. What has this thing done? What has he done? The battered face of Steve punches through to the front of his mind. Metal impacting against his face; splitting open the skin. 

_Off, off, off, off_ he had to get it off. It felt like his skin was crawling with old blood. He hadn't realised that his fingers were scrabbling at the metal arm. He could feel it cutting into his fingers but he didn't care. He could feel the his fingers healing as he cut them open again and again. He didn't care he just needed it off.   
Finally he could get a good grip, pressing his body against the brick to pull with all his strength. The pain had him crying out in agony. It was like it was tearing through his whole body. White hot and cold at the same time every muscle tight and throbbing. 

He tries to take a deep breath but it's like there is a vice on his chest. His heart is racing banging against his rib cage and its all he can do to suck in a tiny bit of air.   
His vision begins to blur around the edges. The noise around him fades but gets louder. Echoes of running steps get louder but traffic dies away. 

Calloused fingers gently touch his knuckles and he thinks he sees that furrowed brow, this time up close. There is no blonde hair falling into the face this time but somehow its still familiar. A hand on the shoulder feels so tight it could be real. So close to the memory of it on his skin. He tries to fight the darkness but the pain is stabbing down his spine. 

A slight sharp prick in his arm registers as a new but brief pain. He feels those lips again this time on his forehead, but this time he doesn't fight to retrieve the memory he just sinks into it before the darkness takes him.


End file.
